I’ve been editing Asia stories for Forbes since 2006, overseeing writers from Seoul to Mumbai. I work in New York but spent 12 years abroad. I managed to be on hand for the end of apartheid in South Africa and the end of British rule in Hong Kong. At the Financial Mail in Johannesburg I covered economics and edited business stories, and when Nelson Mandela was released, I spent the day in Soweto with the toyi-toying masses. At the Wall Street Journal I edited economics and business stories from around Asia and spent the handover cooped up in the office. I majored in economics, but living overseas was my real education. Compare and contrast: South Africa with its overregulated and overtaxed economy and 25% unemployment, and Hong Kong, with its free-market ethos, a virtual flat tax and booming businesses. But like most journalists I’m a generalist. I started at a newspaper founded by George Washington, the Elizabeth, N.J., Daily Journal, where I covered courts and wrote a weekly political column. Then I moved to business reporting at the Tampa, Fla., Tribune, where I sometimes tangled with George Steinbrenner on the shipping beat. After Hong Kong I got a full immersion in finance coverage at BusinessWeek in New York. Then it was on to Forbes, where I’ve also dabbled in education coverage and whatever else comes up.

48 Heroes Of Philanthropy

For the eighth straight year we spotlight notable philanthropists in the Asia-Pacific region, especially those who made news in the past year by launching new and innovative projects. The 48-member honor roll ranges from billionaires with expansive visions of how best to help society to less well-known business people whose generosity is also leaving a huge mark.

Our goal is not to rank the biggest givers–the figures would be impossible to collect. Instead we aim to call attention to people and causes. We try to identify a new group of altruists each year, though several people here are returning to the list because of an important donation or project announced since a year ago. And the goal is to pick only true philanthropists — people who are giving their own money, not their company’s (unless they own most of the company), because donating shareholder funds isn’t exactly charity.

We also don’t list people who work in philanthropy solely as foundation heads, volunteers or fundraisers. They’re crucial to carrying out the projects outlined here, but we want to focus on the people writing the checks and sketching the broad vision. Of course, many people here do several things — they donate their own money while also having their company kick in some funds. Either way, if our effort in compiling this roster encourages more people to support worthy causes, then it’s a success.

Here is the list, arranged alphabetically by country and by honoree within each country:

AUSTRALIA

Clive Berghofer 79 FOUNDER, CLIVE BERGHOFER GROUP Last August donated $45 million to the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, now renamed QIMR Berghofer. Had previously donated $5.5 million to the institute for a cancer research center in 2001. Left school at 13 to work in a sawmill; moved into land sales and property development in his hometown of Toowoomba. Has also supported local schools, sports clubs, hospitals and charities, as well as the University of Southern Queensland.

Audette Exel 51 COFOUNDER & CEO, ISIS (ASIA PACIFIC) PTY. Her ISIS Foundation helps more than 30,000 impoverished people each year in Nepal and Uganda, joining with local health care, education and infrastructure groups. Grew up in New Zealand, then worked as an international finance lawyer in Australia and Hong Kong. Appointed managing director of a Bermuda bank at age 30, then cofounded the foundation in 1998 and also ISIS (Asia Pacific) to fund its overhead costs. Now based in Sydney, the firm–which advises on corporate acquisitions and raises money for fund managers–has donated more than $7 million to the foundation.

Andrew Forrest 53 FOUNDER & CHAIRMAN, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP Donated $62 million to Western Australia’s five universities last October to fund scholarships and a residential college. In March launched the Global Freedom Network, an alliance between three major religions and his Walk Free Foundation to end slavery. Also works to boost job prospects and health care for the country’s indigenous people. Stepped down as CEO of iron-ore giant Fortescue in 2011 to concentrate on philanthropy. He and his wife, Nicola, were the first Australians to sign the Giving Pledge, in 2013, promising to donate most of their wealth to charity during their lifetimes.

James Packer 46 CHAIRMAN, CROWN RESORTS Established the $56 million Sydney Arts Fund in November, following government approval for his $2 billion casino resort on Sydney Harbour. Donation is divided equally between his family’s foundation and its half-owned casino operator, Crown Resorts. Half the funding will go to arts groups in Sydney’s poor, western suburbs.

CHINA

Chen Feng 61 CHAIRMAN, HNA GROUP His privately held group, anchored by Hainan Airlines, donated $1.6 million last year to the UN World Food Programme to feed girls attending school in Ghana. A major shareholder, he drives the group’s philanthropic efforts, which also help youth, disabled people and environmental causes in China. Founded in 2000, as of December 2012 the group had donated $127 million.

Dang Yanbao 41 PRESIDENT, NINGXIA BAOFENG ENERGY GROUP The head of this coal-processing company pledged $186 million last year to help university-bound students in his native Ningxia region of northwestern China. That will cover financial aid for 10,000 students through 2020. He’s helped more than 100,000 poor students in Ningxia over the last seven years, the state-run All China Women’s Federation said in a report in January. Beijing Normal University’s philanthropy research institute named him China’s No. 2 donor for 2013.

Fan Jianchuan 57 FOUNDER, JIANCHUAN GROUP Spent $160 million to build and operate a still-growing, 32-building museum complex in Sichuan Province over the past eight years. The real estate developer and private collector dedicated eight buildings to memorabilia from the Sino-Japanese War era (1931-45) and 25 buildings to 8 million relics from the Cultural Revolution. Pieces include knives, battle plans and a hand grenade, plus a pistol that was used by Mao Zedong’s army in the 1930s. Some 10% of the relics are on display.

Ren Yuanlin 61 CHAIRMAN, YANGZIJIANG SHIPBUILDING Gave $41 million to his foundation in December to support projects to increase respect for elders, workers and public service, according to the website of his city in Jiangsu Province. Set up the Jiangsu Yuanlin Charity Foundation in June 2012, largely to help a growing elderly population, and endowed it with roughly 28% of his stake in the company, or $750 million, according to philanthropy-research firm Kordant Philanthropy Advisors.

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This is interesting, thanks for the reportage. For some, makes me wonder what the percentage of total wealth is earmarked for philanthropic purposes.

And I would also love to see a chart with philanthropic gifts — by sector. I see a lot of “education,” for example. I can imagine politicians directing billionaires to that pot. But what about so-called “environmental” causes? (Gotta breath to read!)